A group of fungal diseases of barley caused by the species Ustilago nuda, Ustilago hordei, and Ustilago nigra, in which the spike organs are replaced by a mass of spores.
In the reference
162
varieties
crop Barley,
where this is mentioned in the description.
Three types of the disease are distinguished in barley: loose smut (pathogen Ustilago nuda), covered or hard smut (Ustilago hordei), and black or false loose smut (Ustilago nigra). With loose smut, the spike turns into a powdery mass, and the infection persists as mycelium within the seed embryo. Covered smut is characterized by a dense mass of spores covered by remnants of glumes, maintaining the shape of the spike until threshing. Black smut is symptomatically similar to loose smut, but the infection is transmitted by teliospores on the seed surface.
Barley smut pathogens possess high racial variability: numerous physiological races have been described for covered smut, and up to 18 for black smut. Genetic resistance to loose smut is controlled by genes of the Un series, in particular, the Un8 gene. Resistance to covered smut is associated with the Ruh1 and aHor2 loci, for which molecular markers are used for identification.
General information about the subject — on the page
Smut.
Selection based on the description text, not on official evaluation: these data are absent from registers. For specific variety details, please refer to its profile.